When Penny Howard answered a phone call from Animal Care and Control, it didn’t occur to her why they were calling.
“They said, are you the owner of Penelope? I had no idea what they were talking about,” said Howard.
Howard realized they were talking about her dog Pia, who had run away eight years ago.
Pia, a cairn terrier, disappeared on November 21, 2008 after the door to Howard’s home was left open when she was out of town.
“I said to my husband, I will grieve for this dog for the rest of my life because I don’t know if she’s cold or wet,” said Howard.
Pia was a rescue dog that no one wanted, according to Howard.
“I had her for two years and then she was gone,” said Howard.
An employee of a development in Boca Raton called ACC Thursday to report a stray dog that had bitten an employee, according to ACC.
“The dog had a chip that traced back to the Tri-County Humane Society,” said Capt. Dave Walesky, ACC Field Captain Services.
ACC was able to call Howard and reunite the dog with its owner this morning.
“To say all my prayers were answered is an understatement,” said Howard
Howard believes Pia is about 13-years-old.
The dog was healthy when it was brought in to ACC, according to Capt. Walesky.
Capt. Walesky said it’s likely someone else had the dog all these years and did not bring it into a shelter to run the microchip.
“It’s the best day of my life because I have spent the past eight years agonizing if she was safe, if she needed food, if she needed me. Now I can spoil her,” said Howard.
